If you read last week’s Par for the Course column, then you know that it was National First Tee Week. We have talked about the First Tee program on several different occasions since the beginning of the year, but this week I’d like to review some important data that the organization has gathered with help from the folks at Harris Poll.
These two groups recently got together to conduct an online poll in the United States with the goal of capturing data on youth involvement in extracurricular activities. This, of course, includes golf.
After reviewing the findings, I felt like some of the most noteworthy points included the following…
• Parents continue to invest in extracurricular activities, even with tightened budgets (it remains a top priority for families).
• Many parents continue to see activities like youth sports as essential for raising resilient, well-rounded kids.
• There is a concern regarding the high demand and low supply of quality coaches, especially when it comes to girls.
• Parents see quality coaching as a catalyst for long-term success, and they want to keep that cycle going.
• Parents felt that participation in extracurricular activities, such as golf, were effective in a number of different areas, including: creating opportunities to work with others, creating opportunities to learn life skills and build character, exposing kids to new things, improving mental health and receiving mentorship support.
• When it comes to deciding which sports programs they want to enroll their children in, the top two factors that parents look at, by far, are whether the program provides a positive and supportive team environment and the quality and overall training of the coaches. Other less important items on the list included quality of training facilities, cost to participate and particular school affiliation.
• Parents reported that quality and trustworthy coaches would significantly increase their likelihood to: enroll their child in more activities, make a long-term commitment to the activity/activities, make recommendations to other parents about the activity/activities, and pay a premium in order for their child to participate in the activity/activities.
• In terms of return on investment, parents said that their child’s coach(es) could impact their child’s: ability to work well with others, ability to respect others, ability to be resilient in the face of challenges, desire to do well in school, ability to lead, ability to mentor and ability to one day be a parent themselves.
• The majority of parents surveyed agreed that there are not enough female coaches or mentors in youth sports.
• Parents of adult children reported that participation in youth sports was a key factor in their kids long-term development and the development of long-lasting friendships.
There is much more to this study. To read additional findings, check it out online at www.firsttee.org.
Announcement: Par for the Course will be taking a hiatus in the month of June, but the plan is for the column to return in July with the primary goal of beginning to preview the upcoming 2025 high school golf season. In the meantime, if you have any golf-related story ideas, please do not hesitate to forward those along by e-mail to tsherman@corbinnewsjournal.com. Also, if you are a local business who would like to discuss options for helping sponsor future columns, please shoot a message to the same address. Here’s to a great start to the summer season, and more golf-centered conversations in the near future!
